The Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom; Plymouth University, Plymouth, United Kingdom.

3

Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Although yoga is frequently used by patients with asthma, its efficacy in alleviating asthma remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE:

To systematically assess and meta-analyze the available data on efficacy and safety of yoga in alleviating asthma.

METHODS:

MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO, CAM-Quest, CAMbase, and IndMED were searched through January 2014. Randomized controlled trials of yoga for patients with asthma were included if they assessed asthma control, symptoms, quality of life, and/or pulmonary function. For each outcome, standardized mean differences (SMDs) or risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane tool.

CONCLUSION:

Yoga cannot be considered a routine intervention for asthmatic patients at this point. It can be considered an ancillary intervention or an alternative to breathing exercises for asthma patients interested in complementary interventions.